The Twilight 25: Round Three
by themorningafter
Summary: A series of oneshots/drabbles for the third round of The Twilight 25 challenge. All canon pairings, both AU and AH stories. Some future, some past.
1. Pictionary

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: One

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: none/gen

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

"It looks like a dragon! No, wait! A lizard! A monster!" Edward yelled, gripping the arms of his wingback chair and half-standing.

"Edward!" Alice complained, waving him off with one small hand. "You aren't allowed to guess. You're not even playing."

"I'm sorry." Edward resettled in his chair, not looking at all apologetic. "I got excited. Besides, I can't read Bella' mind if she doesn't want me to."

I smiled, but didn't look up from my drawing. The sand in the tiny plastic hourglass was rushing to fill the bottom half, but I was faster. Vampires had that advantage, and I fully took advantage, using my speed to draw more that a human could have in one practiced hour. Despite my increased speed and heightened ability to focus, however, I remained as lousy an artist as I was in my human life. Rosalie sat across from me drawing the same thing and probably doing a better job. Emmett and Esme were both leaning over her.

"Loch Ness Monster?" Jasper guessed, squinting unnecessarily at my sheet. "Komodo dragon?" His brow furrowed and he flicked his gaze to Alice, who shrugged at him.

Alice and Edward were barred from these kinds of games and could only look on as cheerleaders. I saw Edward studying Rosalie's drawing and his eyes lit up in recognition.

"Shut it, Edward," I warned, my hand still flying over the sheet. I was trying to recreate a drawing I'd seen hanging in the office of a museum curator in Egypt over fifty years ago. It wasn't working. My brain remembered every single detail, but my hand wouldn't draw them. I growled in frustration.

"Tyrannosaurus rex!" Emmett shouted triumphantly.

"Yes!" Rosalie's hand shot into the air and Emmett high-fived her. High-fiving had been out of fashion for nearly fifty years, but don't try telling that to Emmett.

"A T-Rex?" Jasper said, his tone exasperated. "Bella, is yours dying?"

I looked over at Rosalie's drawing. It was a near perfect sketch, all three dimensional with scales and teeth included. Mine looked like a gecko. One that had been flattened by a semi. Several times over.

"Shut up, Jasper," I sighed. A noise to my left made me turn and I saw Alice and Edward trying very hard to keep from laughing. I glared at them.

"I'm sorry, Bella," Edward managed to choke out before he erupted in peals of brassy laughter. Alice didn't even speak, just fell right over the hysterical edge with my husband.

I looked back at my sketch. It WAS pretty amusing. I cracked a smile, which was apparently the signal for everyone else to let loose. I laughed along with them for while and then I crumpled up my sketch and tossed it away.

Edward knelt next to my chair and placed his hands on my knees. "I'm sorry for laughing," he said, his voice full of mock contrition. "Your T-Rex was very good." He could barely say the words without laughing.

"Oh stop," I said, laughing and running a hand through his hair. "I never claimed to be a good artist." I looked out the window then, contemplating. "Maybe I could take a few art classes, then I could rival Michelangelo over there." I tilted my head at Rose and she smiled.

"It took me almost a hundred years to get that good," she replied, "and tons of studying."

"Studying at the MOMA!" Emmett burst out, unable to contain his pride. He squeezed Rosalie's shoulders with his arm and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"All right, all right, enough ego stroking," Jasper said, reaching for the die on the board. He rolled and moved the piece to a green square.

"Ooh, that means 'difficult,'" Alice said in a taunting kind of voice. Jasper was very competitive, and Alice loved to tease him. It was her way of staying in the game even if she couldn't actually play.

Jasper ignored her and drew a card from the box. He cupped it in his hand so no one could see it and read the word. He cringed theatrically and looked at Edward, who had picked the word from Jasper's mind.

"What do you think, man?"

"That one's tricky," Edward replied, rubbing his long fingers across his chin. I could practically see the ideas working their way through his mind. "It's tricky, but I'll bet Bella can guess it." He smiled at me in an indulgent sort of way.

I smiled back at him, the ass. I couldn't help it. If he thought I could get it, I probably would, and I _really_ wanted to win back that point we'd lost to Emmett.

Jasper nodded and placed his pencil on the paper. He nodded at Rosalie, and she flipped the plastic timer. Before the first grain of sand hit the bottom, Jasper's hand was flying over the paper.

It was a person, or at least the rough silhouette of a person. The person appeared to be female, with long hair and a slightly pointed nose. It took me a second to realize Jasper was drawing me. I smiled, intrigued.

He began drawing what looked like squiggles coming out of my mouth. "Throwing up?" I asked, a little confused. "Vomit?" Jasper shook his head and started drawing something else.

He drew a man in a beret and placed a French flag above the man's head. "French? Speaking French?" Nope, that wasn't it either. I glanced at the hourglass; it was half empty. _Such a pessimist._

Next came an Asian woman with the Chinese flag. _What do I know about France and China?_ Jasper began drawing more lines from my mouth, a little urgently this time, making me think of _When Harry Met Sally_, when poor Sally is drawing "baby talk" and no one knows what it is.

"Language, speech, Mandarin." I was just shouting words now, anything that came to mind, anything that could be even remotely correct. "Um, um, language barrier, many languages." Jasper made the universal hand motion for "close but elaborate" and suddenly it clicked.

I'd taken French in junior high and high school, and living in France for five years soon after my change had solidified the language in my mind. When I'd attended Carnegie Melon with Edward twenty years ago, we'd both majored in Chinese and Asian Studies before jetting off and spending five years traveling China. It was our first adventure alone.

"Fluent!" I shouted, jumping up victoriously before Jasper had even confirmed my guess. Edward jumped up and laughed, bounding over and throwing his arms around me.

"I knew you'd get it," he whispered into my hair and I melted into him as the last grain of sand reached the hourglass's bottom.


	2. Warm Water

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Fifteen  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: none  
Rating: K+

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

The water was warm, though it was only January. It slid over her skin like a fluid glove, lifting her emerald green dress from mid-calf to mid-thigh. Her eyes could make out the tiny particles that floated in and made up the water around her, distracting her from the others there.

She was young and this was new, but she felt right, and beautiful, and perfect, as though her life had been created solely for this moment.

A hand slid up her calf and she looked down on bronze hair that looked black and closed her eyes in smiling bliss.


	3. The Change

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Seventeen

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: none

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:

community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

The first thing he saw when the burning finally stopped was a chandelier the size of a wagon wheel. The second thing he saw were the motes of dust swirling in the air, illuminated by the dusky light in the room. He turned his head and realized he was lying on a hardwood floor in an unfamiliar place. He turned his head slowly to the left and through the haze saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. A slow smile spread across her face.

"Hello," she said in heavily accented English. "What's your name?"

"Jasper, ma'am. Jasper Whitlock."


	4. Chance Meeting

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Two  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: Edward/Bella  
Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

He sat at the rundown wooden bar and watched the brandy in his glass swirl precariously close to the rim. His life was at a crossroads and he wasn't sure if he was ready for the road not taken. He swallowed the last of his drink and slammed the glass onto the bar, signaling the bartender for another.

A rush of wind hit him then and he turned…and gaped. A woman with chestnut curls and a deep blue dress strode in, head high. She caught his gaze and smiled knowingly.

"Hey there, mister. Whatcha drinkin'?"

"What's your name?"

"Isabella."

"Edward."


	5. Born in a Bookshop

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Six  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: none  
Rating: K+

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Bella stood for a moment in the doorway to the library, completely unable to move. The floor-to-ceiling shelves lined every available wall, and they were full of leather-backed, dusty old books from times long forgotten. When she finally regained control of her body, she walked among the stacks, lightly brushing her fingers along the spines of every tome. She climbed the wooden ladder to reach the "A"s, as the books were arranged alphabetically.

_Austen, Jane._ Bella smiled as her fingers pulled the book from its place. Without descending the ladder, she opened the book and began the journey once more.


	6. Who Am I?

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Three  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: none  
Rating: K  
Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, high heels no more an impediment than the air around her. Her parents meant well, she knew, but she couldn't stand to see the sadness, the disappointment on their faces. She knew they tried to hide it, but they were terrible actors. And they didn't get it.

Her family was perfection and she was… not. She was starting to wilt under the heavy-handed morality and the constant expectations. She could feel herself buckling under the pressure. She needed to get away, far away.

"Who am I?" she asked the night.


	7. Trainspotting

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Four  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: none  
Rating: K  
Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Bella wrapped her arms around herself automatically, another reflex that held on after she changed. The water seeped into her boots, but she hardly noticed as she sniffed the air.

He was beyond this train, somewhere, had somehow gotten around it without her seeing. Her newborn strength had been fading lately, and so he was beginning to outstrip her when they ran.

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, trying to figure out his next move. The wind changed and she caught his scent. He was right on top of her. She jumped, catching him in midair.


	8. Taking Flight

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Eighteen  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: Alice/Jasper  
Rating: K  
Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Alice's tinkling bell of a laugh sounded across the parking lot, causing Mike Newton and his gang to turn and look at her warily. Jasper's arms were wrapped around her waist from behind and his lips were near her ear. She was laughing so hard, but no tears came from her tawny eyes.

Alice's bright pink binder slid from the hood of the car to the ground, landing open on the still-wet asphalt. The wind picked up and grabbed some stray handouts, dancing them across the lawn before depositing them into a convenient puddle. Alice's laughter rang out once more.


	9. The Daily Grind

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Sixteen

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: none

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Another day at the office. Emmett sighed as he settled into his chair, pulling some reports from his inbox. He'd been so idealistic as a teacher, and had had no idea that being "promoted" to the district offices meant he would have to deal with mountains of paperwork. Day in and day out, Emmett worked on reports and tried his best to avoid the educational politics. He hadn't seen a kid younger than twenty in three years now, hadn't coached a team, hadn't graded a paper. He hated this job.

_Why did I ever want to be an administrator anyway?_


	10. Letters to You

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Five

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: Carlisle/Esme

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Whenever Carlisle had a bad day at the hospital, he would come home and pour a glass of brandy in his office. He couldn't drink it, of course, but he could smell it, and he loved that smell. He would then sit at his desk, open his bottom drawer and gently, very gently, pull out a stack of yellowed paper. The paper made envelopes and inside those envelopes were Carlisle's most cherished possessions.

Love letters. They were love letters from Esme, back when she was a Platt, when she was a human and he was a doctor who helped her.


	11. A Father's Love

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Twenty-three

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: none

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Charlie Swan sat on his porch, lighter in hand, staring off into space. It was a rare sunny day in Forks, Washington, and all Charlie could think about was his daughter.

She was gone, along with that husband of hers, lost on her way to her honeymoon. He'd gotten a call in the wee hours only two days after he'd left Bella at the Cullen mansion. A sober voice had broken the news.

Small plane. Crash. No bodies recovered.

Charlie refused to think of Bella as just a "body." He'd find her if it was the last thing he did.


	12. As if I Never Existed

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Nine

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: none

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

_Breathe. Just breathe._ He didn't really need to breathe, but it seemed to ease the ache in his chest. Dim light streamed into the window from beyond the cloudy skies, warming the glass slightly. To Edward, that warmth felt like home, and so he laid his forehead on the pane. A small noise passed his lips, and he could hear Alice's thoughts heading toward him.

"Don't," he whispered in a tone full of warning. He did not need a "pep talk" and he certainly was not in the mood for a heart to heart.

_It's for the best. For her._


	13. It's About Time

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Seven

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: Alice/Jasper

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

She stalked the shadows, flitting in and out of the pools of light left by the lamp posts. She smelled _something_ but she couldn't pin it down. The wind was blowing erratically, throwing off her usually perfect sense of smell. There was a busy street near the end of the park lane, and that seemed to be where the scent originated.

Her body suddenly stiffened and she saw him walking her streets. _Finally._

When he stepped into the diner ten minutes later, she was waiting.

"It's about time you showed up. You've kept me waiting a long time."

She smiled.


	14. Summer Dates

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Twelve

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: Edward/Bella

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Bella spread the blanket across the grass while Edward held the basket. The meadow was the perfect place for a picnic, and the perfect place for a date. Edward had chosen the spot, Bella had made the food. She'd packed turkey sandwiches with thick slices of cheese, tomato and crunchy baby spinach, homemade potato salad with bacon, ripe strawberries and a little teapot with a thermos of hot water.

She was quite proud of herself.

They settled on the blanket and Edward leaned forward, brushing his fingertips along her cheekbones. She kissed him softly, and the food was soon forgotten.


	15. Fire and Ice

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Eight  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: James/Victoria  
Rating: M  
Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

God, he smelled good. Something like cloves, dark and earthy, spicy with just a hint of sweet. She had never smelled anyone like him in all her years of wandering. She pressed her nose against the curve of his neck and inhaled as deeply as she could. If she was still human, her head would be spinning.

He slipped his hands under her shirt, sliding up to her shoulder blades and back down to settle on her hips. He squeezed and she made a soft noise, more than just breathing but not quite a moan.

He'd found her in an old dive bar, sitting in what they called the backstage area. She'd been a fairly good singer in life, and death had only enhanced that skill. The fiery waves of her hair were still flowing loosely around her face and over her shoulders. She hadn't had time to pin it up. She smelled him coming, another of her kind, a musk that washed over her like bath water. Blood and sex were in that smell and, underneath, a hint of danger. Suspense. Adventure. Everything she had always craved.

He lifted her roughly and pressed her against the wall. As drywall dust wafted down into her hair, she realized this bar would not stand much longer. Soon she would be convinced that nothing could withstand their passion and nothing could stop it. His fingertips dug into her thighs and she lost her train of thought. When his teeth scraped her neck from ear to shoulder, she threw her head back and pressed against him. Desperation bubbled up inside her and a moan forced itself from her throat.

"Yes," he hissed before catching her open mouth with his. He slid his tongue along hers and her hands gripped his shirt convulsively, her nails tearing small half-moon shapes into it.

She heard his hand on his belt buckle and she rose from her haze just enough to ask one question. "Who are you?"

"James," he growled into her hair, and she felt his pants fall away.

"I'm…" She couldn't finish her own introduction as she felt him enter her. He was being gentle, which was not what she expected.

"You're Victoria," he said when he was fully seated inside of her. "I saw your name on the sign outside." He ran his hands down the side of her face and their crimson eyes met in the hazy light.

She was overwhelmed now, superior vampire brain or not. She'd never felt anything like this before though she hadn't been exactly chaste in her second life. This, however, was her first run-in with another of her kind, and trying to compare the feel of a human to the smell, the taste of James was incomprehensible.

_I can't eat this one either._ The thought blew through her mind and she had to choke down a laugh.

"What's so funny?" James asked, his hands in her hair and his lips by her ear.

Victoria's vision clouded over and she actually started to tremble. She didn't even understand his question at first.

"Funny?" she asked, her voice thick with confusion and arousal.

"Yes," James replied, moving his hands from her hair to gently brush her cheekbones, all while doing sinful things with his hips. "You laughed."

"Oh." Victoria dug her fingers into his back, finding it hard to conjure up what had been so funny just a few moments before. "You're not human."

James shook his head, a bemused expression crossing his face.

"I've never…I've always…"

"Ah." James understood what she was trying to say, but he didn't respond beyond his initial acknowledgment. He did quicken his pace though, and Victoria found her mind completely wiped of coherent thought.

When a vampire seduced a human, he or she had to be mindful of the human's breakable body at all times. One false move, even a twitch, could break a wrist or even a collarbone, and you want to keep them alive. No one wanted to make love to a corpse, not even a… well, corpse (however animated it might be). But when a vampire is seduced by another vampire… the possibilities are endless.

Words failed her then. She would open her mouth, but nothing coherent would come out. She gave herself over to him then, hips lifting up and down, toes curling. His deep voice in her ear made her shiver and she felt herself being swept away, unable to hang on.

He smiled through her climax, and kept going. As she came down, she watched his face screw up in concentration, stroked her fingers across and down his cheeks, and felt something like awe when he finally came inside her.

He placed her back on her feet and smiled a serpentine grin at her expression.

"Are you leaving now?" she asked, feeling panic building up within her at the thought of never seeing her again.

James shook his head. "I think I'll stay awhile." He reached down to pull his pants back into place before settling in the only chair in the room. He patted his lap and Victoria, still naked, immediately sat down.

"We could leave this place, you know," he said then, his eyes faraway, his hand on her back. "We could travel the world together." He smiled again and met her eyes. "I'm a tracker. I can find anything and anyone. My hunting…it's very successful."

Victoria didn't really need to be convinced, but she liked listening to his voice. His words seemed to slip over her like silk, and she didn't want the feeling to stop any time soon.

"I'll go."

James's smile got even wider. "You will? You don't need to think about it?"

Victoria shook her head and jumped up, excited by his reaction. She grabbed a dress lying on the floor and tugged it over her head. "Let's go."

James grabbed her hand and they rushed out of the bar into the night, struggling to maintain a human speed. The air was cool and crisp, and Victoria was in love.

**A/N**

**I know this is kinda OOC when it comes to James/Victoria, but I meant for this to be set many many years before the nomads ever encountered Bella. And maybe that was a time when James and Victoria were softer, less ruthless. I like to think that they were real mates, despite what Edward thought in New Moon/Eclipse.**


	16. Like Father, Like Son

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Ten

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: none

Rating: K+

Photos for prompts can be found here:

community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

He was sure that autumn in Chicago was just like autumn in any other big city, but there was no place he'd rather be. He chained his bike to the rack outside the humanities building on the University of Chicago campus, but didn't go inside just yet.

This was going to be his year. The year he'd get his degree, become an adult, embrace the life his father had always wanted for him.

No, he wanted this too. All his life he'd wanted nothing more than to follow in Dad's world-renowned footsteps.

At least that's what Dad always told him.


	17. Grand Canyon

The Twilight Twenty-Five

Prompt #: Eleven

Pen name: themorningafter

Pairing: Em/R

Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:

community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

After all the driving, all the planning, all the agonizing over money and gas and maps, they ended up leaving the camera in the car. Neither of them wanted to walk the six miles of rocky trail back to the car at excruciatingly slow human speed, so they settled for committing the view to their perfect vampire memories.

Despite their years of traveling, Emmett and Rosalie had never been to the Grand Canyon. Rose hadn't been interested until Bella came around and endorsed it.

So here they stood, looking down into a giant chasm of sunset colors.

Rosalie was smiling.


	18. Vamps in Trees

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Fourteen  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: Bella/Edward  
Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

"Do you remember when I climbed that tree with you on my back? When you were still human?"

She's thinking. "I think so. After school that day? The day you showed me your skin?"

I feel warm with pride. The strongest memories she has from her days as a human are the ones that directly involve me.

"Yeah."

"I remember… sort of." She leaps up and grabbs my hand. "Let's do it again."

"Do what? Climb a tree?" She makes me grin. "Want to get on my back?"

She laughs, pulling me along. "No, silly. This time, _I'll_ carry _you_."


	19. It is the Soldier

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Nineteen  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: none  
Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

The piano is old and some of the keys are broken, but I think I can manage a tune. The War is over and the boys have been brought home. Everyone is happy, everyone but them. I can hear their thoughts swirling around me, and those thoughts are dark and tortured, tormented and desperate. These are not the men they once were. They are shells, shades of their former selves, and if I can help them find peace, even for a moment, I will do it without complaint.

My fingers touch the keys, and soon laughter replaces that inner darkness.


	20. Tennessee

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #: Twenty-one  
Pen name: themorningafter  
Pairing: none  
Rating: K

Photos for prompts can be found here:  
community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/13912[dot]html

Tennessee summers came early and hot. Flowers bloomed there while the northern states were still waiting for the snow to melt. The McCarty land stretched for acres in all direction, and just inside the northern border was a creek. The creek was so wide it could almost be called a river, but Emmett had never heard anyone refer to it as anything other than "The Creek."

He sat shirtless in the grass, watching his tiny cousins swing across the water on the rope he'd tied to a tall branch.

"Hey, Emmett!" his brother called. "You want to hunt bear tomorrow?"


End file.
